A brief Facebook post appeared innocuous.
The Grapevine Police Department thanked a local company for gifting its staff a pizza party, adding that it was “blessed to have their support and encouragement.”
But the gift, made by the Christian conservative Patriot Mobile cellphone company, caused an outcry on social media, with people urging the department to return it.
On Saturday, Grapevine police said it would not accept the gift certificate to Cane Rosso and would instead donate it to an organization in need. The amount of the certificate was not immediately clear.
“We do not question a donor’s beliefs, we simply express our gratitude,” the department wrote in a follow-up post. “In this case, however, the donation brought out deep emotion.”
Patriot Mobile — which describes itself as “America’s only Christian conservative wireless provider” — has spent hundreds of thousands of dollars to promote like-minded candidates in recent Tarrant County suburban school board races.
Last spring, the company’s political action committee sent thousands of political mailers accusing sitting school board members of endangering students with critical race theory and other “woke” ideas regarding gender and race.
All 11 candidates backed by Patriot Mobile won their races across four school districts: Grapevine-Colleyville, Southlake, Keller and Mansfield.
“If we lose Tarrant County, we lose Texas,” Jenny Story, Patriot Mobile’s chief operating officer, told The New York Times. “If we lose Texas, we lose the country.”
But some have accused the Grapevine-based company of driving a wedge in communities and on once-sleepy school boards. And over the weekend, many expressed disappointment with the police department for initially accepting the gift.
“Why would you think it was appropriate to associate with a group like Patriot Mobile,” Grapevine resident Jane Boyd wrote. “I am absolutely appalled. Not a good look for the Grapevine PD. So much for a fair and just police force.”
Still, some said Grapevine police should have accepted the pizza and that an organization’s politics should not matter.
“Pretty gutless,” one person wrote. “How sad that a simple act of kindness becomes so misunderstood.”
Patriot Mobile did not respond to a request for comment Sunday.
In its post, Grapevine police said it is reevaluating its policy for how it receives donations.
“Our community deserves to be heard, and we want you to know we are listening,” the department wrote. “Please know that our actions were not intended to create distrust, and we vow to do better moving forward.”